Words Can't Bring Us Down
by Matt Briddell
Summary: The X-Men try to cheer up by listening to Christina Aguilera. My first attempt at a song-fic. Enjoy!
1. XClaimer

Author's note:  
  
This is my first effort at writing a song-fic, based on Christian Aguilera's "Beautiful". Try listening to the song as you read the story and see what happens. (  
  
This is my going-away present for the summer, as I'm leaving in a few days and might not be able to write much more original stuff for a while.  
  
As usual, I do not own any of the characters normally associated with X-Men Evolution. 


	2. Words Can't Bring Us Down

For 6 of Bayville's resident mutants, it had been an absolutely horrible day. Jamie, Amara, Rogue, Jubilee, Kurt, and Toad were all feeling very depressed about life and about themselves.  
  
Kurt sat on his bed, looking at his reflection in the mirror. The mirror also showed the wilted sunflower that sat on his desk. Amanda had found the flower and given it to him a while ago, when they had gone out for a walk. Naturally, Kurt had had his holo-imager on so that he would look human and not scare the other pedestrians.  
  
Now the flower sat on his desk, its petals beginning to dry up. Kurt sighed as he looked at it. It would be so nice, he thought as he looked at his reflection, to be able to walk around outside without that damn holo-imager on! But if he did that, who knows what would happen, or how the people who saw him would react. He went on looking forlornly at the mirror, his fuzzy blue reflection staring back at him.  
  
"Don't look at me," Kurt told his reflection, and rolled over, face-down on the bed. He switched the radio on, hoping to find some good music.  
  
X  
  
Jamie was tired of always being the small, skinny kid who always got left out of everything. I hate being a little kid!, he thought. His wish was to be a big bodybuilder someday, and the walls of his bedroom reflected this desire. Pictures of Charles Atlas, Arnold Schwarzennager, Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damne, and other world-famous strong-men were plastered across practically every inch of his room. He also had a weight bench and several barbells crammed in a corner. One day, he thought as he picked up a barbell, he would be just as big and strong as these men.  
  
He lifted the heavy weight and for a moment thought he had it up, but the weight overcame his small arms and he fell over backwards, spawning four copies of himself as he hit the floor. The clones helped pick the barbell up and Jamie stood up slowly. "Don't look at me," he said to the clones, ashamed of his puny stature. The clones shrugged and vanished.  
  
Jamie walked over to the radio on his dresser and turned it on, hoping to find some good work-out music.  
  
X  
  
Downstairs in the den, Amara sat sprawled on a large pillow, flipping through a teen fashion magazine. She was very self-conscious of how she looked and was always trying to keep up with Jean and Kitty in the style department. No matter how hard she tried, however, the older X-Men always seemed to be a few steps ahead of her. She was feeling very depressed, and worried that nobody would ever like her if she couldn't turn herself into the person that these magazines were telling her she needed to be.  
  
Just then, Sam walked into the room. "Hey, Amara!" he said. "What's up?"  
  
"Don't look at me," Amara muttered, turning away from him.  
  
Sam started to say something, but changed his mind and walked out of the room. He didn't feel like being around somebody who felt so negative about herself.  
  
Amara sighed and flipped on the radio, hoping some music would cheer her up.  
  
X  
  
Over at the Brotherhood's boarding house, Toad sat in his bedroom by himself. The curtains were closed and the room was very dark. He had been crying for the last several minutes, thinking about Wanda. No matter how hard he tried, she was always repulsed by his efforts to win his affection. It seemed like nothing he did was good enough for her.  
  
Toad swatted a fly away, too depressed to even have a snack right now. He felt like he had a curse on him, that he was doomed to love a girl that hated and despised him for who he was.  
  
There was a knock at his door. "Toad, you ok in there?" It was Fred. Fred cracked the door open a bit, hoping his friend would be feeling better.  
  
"Don't look at me, Fred," Toad said glumly, and pressed a pillow over his head.  
  
Fred closed the door. "Man, he's gotta get over her," he muttered to himself. "Before it eats him alive!"  
  
After Fred left, Toad reached blindly for the radio on his nightstand. His hand hit the play button and then sprawled across the bed.  
  
X  
  
In the schoolyard, Rahne was trying not to cry as the three older girls shoved her down to the ground. These three had been teasing her for weeks, ever since school had started. They made fun of her size, her hair, her accent, and anything else they could find to ridicule Rahne about.  
  
Right now, it seemed that simple teasing was no longer sufficient to fulfill their desires. Now they wanted to hurt Rahne. They scoffed at her as she lay on the ground, bleeding from a cut on her cheek. Rahne covered her face to avoid being kicked by the girls. Luckily for her, the girls felt satisfied with what they had done, and walked away, laughing.  
  
Rahne picked herself up off the ground and wiped the blood off her face. She slowly walked home, crying as she went.  
  
A while later, she arrived at the Institute and sat down in the kitchen. She sniffed as she slumped down in one of the chairs and let her backpack drop to the floor.  
  
"Rahne, what happened?" Jubilee asked as she walked in and saw her sitting in the chair. "Did you get in a fight?"  
  
"Don't look at me!" Rahne cried, covering her face up again. She didn't want Jubilee to see the bruises on her face.  
  
"Rahne, was it those three girls again?" Jubilee asked, putting her arm around Rahne's shoulder.  
  
"Just leave me alone!" Rahne shouted, shrugging Jubilee's arm away.  
  
"Ok," Jubilee said. "Hope you feel better later,"  
  
She walked to the door of the kitchen. As she did, she passed by the radio, and turned it on. "Maybe some nice music will help you feel better, Rahne," she said.  
  
X  
  
On the other side of town, Rogue stepped onto a bus full of people. Lately, she had hated going out in public. Ever since the recent school shootings a few states away, people had looked at her gothic clothing and appearance with an air of suspicion, scorn, and fear. On the plus side, it seemed like she never had to worry about finding an empty seat. People were always glad to get out of her way, just as they were doing now as she walked back through the bus.  
  
Don't look at me, thought Rogue as she saw the passengers giving her strange looks. She hated when people stared at her.  
  
She found an empty seat and sat down beside two older people. They took one look at her and quietly stood up and moved to another part of the bus.  
  
Fine, more room for me, thought Rogue as she pulled out her portable radio, put on her headphones, and turned it on.  
  
X  
  
By a coincidence, or perhaps through fate, all 6 of the mutants' radios were tuned to the same station, and they all heard the same song start up. It was Beautiful, by Christina Agiulera.  
  
"Every day, is so wonderful, And suddenly, it's hard to breathe,  
  
Now and then, I get insecure, From all the pain, I'm so ashamed,  
  
I am beautiful, no matter what they say, Words can't bring me down,  
  
I am beautiful, in every single way, Yes, words can't bring me down, oh, no,  
  
So don't you bring me down today!"  
  
All 6 mutants perked up as they heard the song.  
  
Kurt actually reached out to turn the radio off, since he normally didn't like this kind of music, but he hesitated, and decided to listen to the rest of the song.  
  
Toad sat up in his bed, the pillow falling to the floor as a ray of light pushed through the curtains.  
  
Rahne looked up, brushing a tear out of her eye. "Sure you want me to leave?" Jubilee asked her.  
  
Up in his room, Jamie paused in mid-lift, while Amara set the magazine aside for a bit to listen to the song. On the bus, Rogue closed her eyes in recognition of the song and took a deep relaxing breath.  
  
The mutants felt themselves being inspired as the song continued on.  
  
X  
  
Meanwhile, Bobby and Roberto sat on the porch of a small coffee shop. Unlike their fellow mutants, they were both having an extremely good day. They had come out to each other and admitted their crushes on each other a few days ago, and were now enjoying their first 'official' date together. They were having a very good time getting to know each other as more than just friends.  
  
Their conversation was interrupted as the waitress brought them their drinks.  
  
"Thanks," said Bobby, and picked up his glass. "Here's to us," he said, offering a toast.  
  
"To us," smiled Roberto. They touched glasses, and took a sip of their drinks.  
  
"Ow!" said Roberto suddenly. "I think I burnt my tongue!"  
  
Bobby resisted the temptation to spit out his own drink; it was much too cold for his liking. "Blech! I asked for a hot chai!" he complained.  
  
"Here, let me handle that," said Roberto. He stuck out a finger and shot a bolt of solar energy at Bobby's mug. The liquid in the cup started to bubble and steam as it boiled.  
  
"Thanks," said Bobby. "And let me help you," he said. He dipped a finger in Roberto's glass and chilled it down a bit. They both took another sip of their drinks.  
  
"Mmm, much better," said Roberto.  
  
"That's what real friends are for," Bobby replied, leaning over next to him.  
  
"Hey, you hear that?" asked Roberto, his ears catching a strain of music that was playing over the shop's radio.  
  
Bobby listened, and recognized it. "Beautiful! I love that song!" he said.  
  
"Me too!" said Roberto. "It's my favorite!"  
  
"I love how we have so much in common," said Bobby, smiling at his friend.  
  
"And I love you," said Roberto, taking Bobby's hand in his own. The two boys tilted their heads and began kissing each other as the music played on.  
  
"To all your friends, you're delirious,  
  
So consumed, in all your doom,  
  
Trying hard to fill the emptiness,  
  
And the puzzle undone, That's the way it is,  
  
'Cause you are beautiful, no matter what they say,  
  
Words can't bring you down, oh no,  
  
Cause you are beautiful, in every single way,  
  
Yes, words can't bring you down, oh no,  
  
So don't you bring me down today,"  
  
Most of the mutants felt themselves negatively affected by the words of the second verse. Amara had picked up the magazine again, but she felt it grow very heavy in her hand, like an oppressive weight crushing down on her.  
  
Jamie flexed as he looked at himself in the mirror, but gave up. Who am I kidding?, he thought sadly. This'll take forever!  
  
In the kitchen, Rahne buried her head in her arms and started crying again, convinced that she would always be a target for others to pick on. Jubilee sighed but didn't leave, determined to help her friend feel better.  
  
Toad leaned over and pulled the drapes shut to try and block out the sun. The last thing he wanted was to see his own face right now, and be reminded of how loathsome Wanda thought he was.  
  
Kurt had stood up by this time, and was looking at himself in the mirror. He was turning his watch on and off, and the reflection kept changing between Kurt as he typically looked, and his 'human' appearance. He twisted his body this way and that, trying to make the two images look alike, but naturally could not succeed. He looked sadly out the window, resigned to the fact that he would never be free to walk around in broad daylight without the watch on.  
  
Rogue glared at the other passengers on the bus. Why can't they just get used to how I dress?, she thought angrily. Why do they think I'm going to try and kill them or something just because I look like this?  
  
Bobby and Roberto, however, continued kissing, oblivious to the glances and occasional angry look they were getting from the other customers in the coffee shop.  
  
"No matter what we do, No matter what they say,  
  
When the sun is shining through, Through our beautiful mistakes,  
  
And everywhere we go, The sun won't always shine, (The sun will always, always)  
  
But tomorrow will find a way, On the other side (Shine!)  
  
'Cause we are beautiful, No matter what they say,  
  
Yes words won't bring us down, oh no.  
  
We are beautiful, In every single way  
  
Yes words can't bring us down, oh, oh no  
  
So don't you bring me down today,"  
  
The inspiring words had a tremendous effect on all the mutants. Jamie found himself filled with a new vigor and dropped to the floor and started doing pushups. "I CAN do it!" he said as he worked.  
  
Amara took a look at the girl on the cover of her magazine. "This is so stupid!" she said. "I don't need to look like you to feel good about myself!" And with that, she cast the magazine into the fire and laid back on the pillow to watch the magazine slowly burnt to ashes. After it had consumed itself, she stood up and walked out the den to go find Sam and see if he still felt like talking.  
  
Rahne looked up again. When she saw that Jubilee was still standing there, she smiled. "Thanks," she said. "I needed that,"  
  
Jubilee sat down next to and gave her a hug, and they began plotting their revenge against the three girls.  
  
On the bus, Rogue caught a glimpse of herself in one of the bus windows. She grinned slightly, very happy with her own appearance, even if everybody else on the bus thought she might wig out on them at any moment. She put her feet up on the seat in front of her and relaxed, her hands calmly resting behind her head.  
  
In the boarding house, Toad sat up out of bed. "I'm not giving up!" he said, determined to find a way to get Wanda to like him. Just then, he heard the door open downstairs as Wanda arrived home.  
  
"Sweetums! You're back!" Toad cried happily as he bounded out of bed and headed for the staircase.  
  
At the coffee shop, Bobby and Roberto finally broke their kiss and looked into each other's eyes. Bobby smoothed out Roberto's hair a bit, and they smiled, very content.  
  
And upstairs in his room, Kurt ripped off his holo-imager, threw it on the floor, and started jumping up and down on it, stomping the thing to pieces until sparks flew. "I don't need you to help me look normal anymore!" he shouted at the ruined watch. He picked up the pieces and threw them in the trashcan by his bed, and picked up the phone.  
  
"Amanda?" he asked once he had dialed her number. "Feel like going for another walk? Alright! I'll see you in a few minutes!"  
  
Kurt hung up the phone. Before he left, he picked up a small watering can and gave the sunflower a drink. The flower instantly began to bloom again. Kurt set the can down and teleported out of his room with a BAMF!  
  
"Mmm, oh, oh yeah, Don't you bring me down today,  
  
Don't you bring me down today!" 


End file.
